Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert are baffled at Virginia's blackface politicians problem

Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert attack Virginia&#039;s blackface problem

published 7 February 2019

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) "has been clinging to his job since it came out that his med-school yearbook page featured a photo of a man in blackface next to a man in a Klan robe," Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. "Apparently Gov. Northam saw the movie BlacKKKlansman and thought, 'Hey, that's two good costumes.'" Northam said he wasn't in the photo but did once put on blackface to moonwalk. "Never a good sign when there's a story about you and Michael Jackson, and you're the creepy one," Colbert joked.

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) "is embroiled in a sexual assault scandal," Colbert said, and next in line is Attorney General Mark Herring (D), who said Wednesday he wore blackface at a 1980 college party. "Damnit, Virginia, what is wrong with you?! Can't you just throw normal parties? If you must have a theme, how about 'respect for the historical struggle of oppressed minorities,' dress code: your face."

"Another Virginia politician was in blackface?" Trevor Noah marveled at The Daily Show. "The governor did blackface, the attorney general did blackface, and it only gets worse, because the next person in line for the job is the House speaker. And he's an actual can of brown shoe polish." Noah moved on to the wide-ranging federal investigation of President Trump's inaugural committee. "To be honest, we should have known something was off when he was sworn in on a copy of Money Laundering for Dummies," he joked.

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"A lot of money went into Trump's inauguration," Colbert said, and it's not clear where that record $107 million went. "I mean, obviously they didn't need it for crowd control." Investigators are also examining if Trump's team helped foreigners give to the inaugural committee via straw donors, he said, "not to be confused with the straw donors who gave so generously to Trump's hair plugs." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.